A’s Parker not quite right? And Tigers’ Scherzer available today?

Jarrod Parker of the Oakland Athletics looks on after a hit by Jhonny Peralta during Game Three of the ALDS. (Leon Halip/Getty Images)

A’s manager Bob Melvin said this morning that Jarrod Parker yesterday “just didn’t have his best stuff from the very beginning,” one reason Melvin took his Game 3 starter out after 73 pitches. “You can tell sometimes when the ball’s not coming out of his hand the way it usually does.”

The potential causes, Melvin said, either a little bit of a dead-arm period or a little bit of fatigue. He does not think that Parker will need his arm checked or any MRIs or tests.

When I asked if Parker’s issues yesterday might be a concern going forward, Melvin said, “I don’t know. We’ll see how he feels the next couple of days.”

I waited to speak to Parker after batting practice but he did not want to talk and said only that he did not do any throwing today.

A scout I spoke this morning said that Parker’s velocity yesterday was 88-91 for the whole game, when he’s usually more like 92-94 mph.

“He didn’t look 100 percent right,” Melvin said.

Catcher Stephen Vogt told me that Parker’s fastball didn’t have the late life it usually does on it, but it still had good movement on it. He said it’s not uncommon this late in the season for starters to have tired arms.

Many thought Bartolo Colon had a tired arm in August; a trip to the DL for a groin problem and Colon has been fine since, but that was 15 days off and Parker wouldn’t have that kind of rest. As it was, he was working on eight days rest yesterday.

It’s safe to assume that if for some reason Parker couldn’t start in the next round, should Oakland go to the ALCS, that A.J. Griffin, Tommy Milone or even Brett Anderson would be available to start. Griffin has been off for more than two weeks with elbow tendinitis; Milone is entirely healthy, but like Griffin, is not on the Division Series roster; and Anderson, the A’s Opening Day starter, is working in the bullpen. He’d probably be limited to three or at a stretch four innings, though, given his lack of work.

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Tigers manager Jim Leyland said this afternoon that Max Scherzer, his Game 1 starter, could be available in the bullpen today if he felt good after his pregame throwing. Leyland said he won’t take any unnecessary chances with the likely AL Cy Young winner, but this is an elimination game for Detroit, so if Scherzer can go two innings – which Scherzer told him he thought could – he will.

If that’s the case, Justin Verlander would start Game 5 if there is one.

Melvin won’t discuss his potential Game 5 starter until this game is over. No jinxes for him, no getting ahead of himself.

The Grant Balfour-Victor Martinez spat was still a hot topic today; it’s amazing how few players on either side knew what was going on initially. Things like that never happen on a foul ball, but all of a sudden, players were streaming onto the field. Brandon Moss said he was talking to Straily in the dugout, turned to say something to him, and Straily was hopping over the fence, and Moss couldn’t figure out why.

I asked Melvin if he ever has talked to Balfour about his swearing, ranting ways, and Melvin said that he has, although he did not yesterday; he did check with him just to find out what had happened.

“I’ve probably had a couple of conversations with Balfour over the years,” Melvin said. “You also understand that’s how he gets himself motivated, it’s just who he is. In other instances, he not talking to players, he talking to himself, and at times opposing players think he can be talking to them. Yesterday was a little bit different, but that’s just kind of who he is. It’s not like it’s the first time he did it. Certainly, we do have concerns about how things look and what the perception is.”

Outfielder Josh Reddick was asked if any drama might linger today after the benches-clearing incident. “I don’t think we’ll see carryover,” he said. “We’ve all seen Balfour when he pitches, he’s yelling at baseballs, blades of grass, the mound, who knows what’s going on. But I think it’s heat of the moment, and Victor took it the wrong way. And Balfour doesn’t like to get stared down and he pretty much wins the staring contest 100% of the time, and he didn’t appreciate it.

“But I don’t see it carrying over when a team is on the verge of elimination. I highly doubt they’re going to hit somebody to put him on, and I highly doubt that’s going to happen. I know we’re not going to do that to give them a chance to come back.”

Reddick was asked about Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter’s comment yesterday that all the pressure is on Oakland now. Reddick, noting that the A’s are up two games to one, responded: “It’s kind of tough to say the pressure is on us when we’re ahead, but we’re not cocky types, we’re not going in thinking we’re going to run all over these guys, because they are a tough team.”

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I asked Melvin, Chili Davis and Jed Lowrie today about Lowrie being 0-for-12 with six strikeouts in the series; the A’s shortstop was also one of the team’s most consistent hitters all year, batting .290 with an OPS of .791. All agreed that the four-day layoff hurt Lowrie’s timing – he’s a switch hitter, and they tend to have more issues keeping both swings going, and it’s his left-handed swing that he’s having issues with.

“He’ll hit better,” Davis said with confidence. “He will sync up well with Fister. We need him to.”

Lowrie and Davis both acknowledged that Lowrie has been a little frustrated with the strike zone in the series at times, and he’s usually not a demonstrative player.

“He knows his zone and when you’re not getting the calls, it’s frustrating to go up and feel like you’re already in the whole 0-1 or 0-2 if you don’t agree with the call,” Davis said. “But he’s still got to fight through the at-bat, and he’s doing that.”

“When you’re not swinging the bat well and the calls aren’t going your way, it doesn’t feel great,” Lowrie said. “It’s a matter of timing and getting back into the rhythm. I haven’t been chasing pitches, I’m just missing pitches I should be hitting.”

Should Oakland win the series today to advance to the ALCS and should Boston also win to advance, the A’s will still return to the Bay Area tonight before heading to Boston on Thursday.